I have been teaching for 15 years and today, on a email to our corporation, we were told that we need to cut over 5 million dollars in the next two years from our budget. Seriously, where are we going to cut this kind of money? All of our services have been cut already, and I have not had a change in my pay for over 5 years. Believe me when I say this, I feel very blessed to have a job and to work in a very good school corp, however this is nation wide. My father is a retired school teacher and my older brother (of 10 years) and I are both teacher, so I knew what I was getting into. I am 42 years old, and I can't imagine doing anything other then teaching. This is crazy to me!!!!!!

I bet 35% or more of the staff at your school are specialized and make nearly twice as much money as the average teacher and work one on one with 3-4 kids a day of which maybe 1 % will reap any benefit from it. I believe in giving every kid a chance but not at the expense of all the other students which is the direction our schools are going. In most cases if the parents took time to work with them at home they probably wouldn't need as much one on one help. I remember years ago when there were one or two special ed teachers on staff.......now they nearly outnumber the regular teaching staff.........

You had better get used to this. The money is running out. The Federal Government just keeps writing bad checks they can't pay.

First thing get rid of all sports programs in the school. No more band or choir tours or trips. They perform locally and that is it. Start cutting stupid classes like pottery and dance classes. Start getting rid of administrator positions and use that money to fund teachers. I can list off about a hundred things they can kill at my daughters high schools and save the 5 million in one year in a district. Schools always cry for more money, while just like every other government funded agency they are incredibly wasteful.

May not be the case where you are, it is the case around here.

Last edited by ScaupHunter on Wed Dec 04, 2013 10:05 am, edited 2 times in total.

In a free society, it is not the obligation of the citizen to prove to the government that he is a good person. It is the obligation of the government to prove to the rest of the citizenry that the citizen is a bad person, with probable cause.

Our Central Office is ran by over paid, for some reason they just keep opening more and more jobs, with large pay scales. But, we still have a 5 million alignment problem. Our big Chief just got a $150K bonus, but it came out of a different budget/fund.

Engineer. You know those types. Really good at problem solving. Capable of breaking down large problems into small easy to solve steps. Able to look at complex systems and understand them easily. Schools are buried in pork spending. Stupidity and socialwork BS rule the schools and their budgets right now. I can fix their budget problems quickly. They just wouldn't like it.

Sounds like your district needs to hire Pope Francis, he seems to be cleaning house very well in the Vatican (at the expense of the overpaid and over privileged).

"For the High and Exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy says this: 'I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed." - Isaiah57:15

Cutting crappy teachers out of the equation should be the first step... Holding parents accountable should be the next...I

The influential Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has just released its much-awaited triennial study of global education systems, and once again, the U.S. earns bad grades. According to the study, American 15 year-olds tested were average in reading and science skills, below-average in math.

"It is not very different from where we found the U.S. in the past," OECD education chief Andreas Schleicher told Fox News, "but it's not very good either."

Overall, according to the U.S. Department of Education, American students' rankings in math have slipped from 24th to 29th compared to the last test in 2010. In science, they've gone from 19th to 22nd, and from 10th to 20th in reading.

That drop is mostly due to surging performance from regions abroad, especially Asia. China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore are all ahead of the U.S., as are European countries like Poland, Finland and Holland, as well as neighbor Canada and Australia.

When the last study was released, Education Secretary Duncan said it was a "wake-up call" for education administrators. Many experts see high educational standards as a key to global economic success. Amanda Ripley, author of "The Smartest Kids in the World," told Fox News, "I guess we've hit the snooze button."

Money is not a predictor of performance in the study. America spends more per student than all but five countries in the world. Neither is childhood poverty, diversity or high levels of immigration. Many countries featuring those attributes also scored high.

Education experts tell Fox News it comes down to high standards, a will to improve, and especially an elevation of the teaching profession. "We really have to decide as a country it is important for all kids to master rigorous concepts and learn to think," education author Ripley told Fox.

If it's any consolation, according to authorities, many of the "innovations" used by other countries to get ahead, like placing good teachers in bad school districts, have their roots in the States. Still, say analysts, there is work to be done. "Success is not in having great ideas," the OECD's Schleicher told Fox, "its putting them into practice."

Electives are things that were put in place to placate kids and parents....

You got an A in: Art Appreciation/History Band Ceramics Choir Dance Drama/Theatre Drawing Film making Instrumental Music Jewelry making Music Appreciation/History Orchestra Painting Photography Sculpture Voice

The local school district that I graduated from has a bad issue of teachers retiring and then in the same day being rehired. By doing this they are able to collect their pension check and salary.

The most current one doing this is the school treasurer. She makes over 150 K a year currently. Wants to retire and be rehired. She will make almost double.

Someone needs to find the loop hole in this system and do away with it. When my grandpa retired as a truck driver at 55 on full pension he was not allowed to take any job of any kind without loosing pay from his pension.

I can hear it now teacher are overpaid.... Teachers are horrible... I should get a subsidy to homeschool my kid at everyones expense...

I'm married to a teacher. The fact is, is that there are some real crappy ones, but they are in the 2% for sure. My wife(and a lot of her colleauges) put in well over 12 hour days, some on their weekends, and spend a lot of their own money so kids can go on the field trips and other crap like that. So dont tell me that teacher make too much money. That is a load of bullshit.

Are there loopholes.. YES, and there are certainly places that can cut some fat. But lay off the teachers and there pay.

I would love to have a job with two to three months off a year that pays $40,000 plus. A lot of teachers make $60,000 plus after some time in the profession. Guess what, if you decide to be a teacher and don't know the job demands you are a sucker and should have done your research.

ScaupHunter wrote:I would love to have a job with two to three months off a year that pays $40,000 plus. A lot of teachers make $60,000 plus after some time in the profession. Guess what, if you decide to be a teacher and don't know the job demands you are a sucker and should have done your research.

60K a year? No way..... I live in Alaska which is one of the highest paying states to be a teacher in. My wife doesnt make 60K. And lets talk about the "off" time. My wife is continually called in for cirriculum alingments, to lead cohort classses for new teachers and other things. While everyone thinks shes sitting on her ass drinking a margarita, thats not the case at all.

This is the mindset that kills me. If you think you can do a better job, do it. Then the future generations can be **** retards!

Well you have to look at the competition. China has gone bat shin crazy on their kids to be successful and their grades reflect that. The kids wake up at 5 am to do math rigorously for hours so what do you expect? It's almost as if they're training robots.

Gunnysway wrote:Cutting crappy teachers out of the equation should be the first step... Holding parents accountable should be the next...I

The influential Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has just released its much-awaited triennial study of global education systems, and once again, the U.S. earns bad grades. According to the study, American 15 year-olds tested were average in reading and science skills, below-average in math.

"It is not very different from where we found the U.S. in the past," OECD education chief Andreas Schleicher told Fox News, "but it's not very good either."

Overall, according to the U.S. Department of Education, American students' rankings in math have slipped from 24th to 29th compared to the last test in 2010. In science, they've gone from 19th to 22nd, and from 10th to 20th in reading.

That drop is mostly due to surging performance from regions abroad, especially Asia. China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore are all ahead of the U.S., as are European countries like Poland, Finland and Holland, as well as neighbor Canada and Australia.

When the last study was released, Education Secretary Duncan said it was a "wake-up call" for education administrators. Many experts see high educational standards as a key to global economic success. Amanda Ripley, author of "The Smartest Kids in the World," told Fox News, "I guess we've hit the snooze button."

Money is not a predictor of performance in the study. America spends more per student than all but five countries in the world. Neither is childhood poverty, diversity or high levels of immigration. Many countries featuring those attributes also scored high.

Education experts tell Fox News it comes down to high standards, a will to improve, and especially an elevation of the teaching profession. "We really have to decide as a country it is important for all kids to master rigorous concepts and learn to think," education author Ripley told Fox.

If it's any consolation, according to authorities, many of the "innovations" used by other countries to get ahead, like placing good teachers in bad school districts, have their roots in the States. Still, say analysts, there is work to be done. "Success is not in having great ideas," the OECD's Schleicher told Fox, "its putting them into practice."

Electives are things that were put in place to placate kids and parents....

You got an A in: Art Appreciation/History Band Ceramics Choir Dance Drama/Theatre Drawing Film making Instrumental Music Jewelry making Music Appreciation/History Orchestra Painting Photography Sculpture Voice

Big Effing Deal!

Exactly. If we cut the bull$#1t classes, and doubled the amount of time kids spent in core classes, you could have a much shorter school year (not as many days being bussed in) and (hopefully) kids could be learning real life skills. Instead, the public school system has become an expensive daycare. If it was stripped down to what is really needed you could have a much cheaper and more effective arrangement.